The Cookers, a music ensemble, have abruptly canceled their shows at the Kennedy Center over the change of name to Trump Kennedy Center.
More acts are following suit including suit.
“Jazz was born from struggle and from a relentless insistence on freedom: freedom of thought, of expression, and of the full human voice. Some of us have been making this music for many decades, and that history still shapes us,” the Cookers jazz ensemble said in a statement.
EARLIER: The Kennedy Center is going to be very quiet this winter and spring.
The only show of note coming in for the next six months is a national tour of “Chicago,” from March 29th.
Otherwise, the famed institution will just be home to its subscription series with the symphony and ballet. They’ll have a bunch of minor events that aren’t exactly major attractions.
Already, Southern Alabama singer Kristy Lee has canceled her show for January 14th. Why? The breaking point was Donald Trump’s name change of the Center, hotly objected to by all sane people.
(The way it looks now, the fake www.trumpkennedycenter.org may have more Broadway shows, all invented, like The Epstein Dancers!)
The coming months will be in stark contrast to the 2023-24 season, which featured Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Larson’s “tick, tick… BOOM!”; the 1960 Tony Award–winning Best Musical, “Bye Bye Birdie”; and the 1982 Tony Award–winning Best Musical, “Nine.” They also staged the Temptations musical “Ain’t Too Proud,” “Back to The Future,” “Funny Girl,” “Company,” and “Girl from the North Country,” among others.
This year was supposed to bring “Hamilton” to the Kennedy Center, but Lin-Manuel Miranda and the producers backed out earlier this year when Donald Trump took over and replaced the board with his stooges.
One act that will appear at the Kennedy Center this month is Shen Yun, the Chinese theatrical extravaganza. They are already the subject of much controversy. When they performed last year there was a bomb threat at the theater. Also, their CFO is still in hot water. I told you in June 2024 that Shen Yun was caught in accusations of a money laundering scheme that included the Epoch Times and Chinese dissidents Falun Gong. The chief financial officer was indicted by the Justice Department for laundering $67 million. The case has not been resolved.
Even with Trump’s proposed new marble armrests it doesn’t seem possible for the Kennedy Center to go on this way. The Center’s chief, Trump lackey Dickie Grenell, is presiding over a Titanic situation, rearranging the deck chairs while the ship sinks. Even Trump’s deep pocketed new donors will expect some kind of Broadway entertainment this year. Here’s some news for them: it’s not coming.
